Speeches by Murray.

“Let me take that away. I am not going to commit to what we are going to do now. But let me take that away as a suggestion that you have put to me. I would not dismiss the commercial implications of having figures in the public domain, but, as I said, within the boundaries of what is appropriate I am keen to make sure w…”

“We are still committed to that, and we are focused on investing in new scanners. There is a lot of capital investment going into DEXA scanners, which can have a huge benefit. They can identify potential fractures early and give people a good overview of what is happening in that regard. But yes, we are still—”

“I am not sure it would be right for me to make pronouncements about the funding approach, because that obviously affects the whole of Government. It will be a decision for the Prime Minister and the Chancellor and those across Government to take.”

“I think having £500 million extra in 2028-29 alongside the £4.6 billion extra more broadly that we are putting in is significant. It is not simply fixing the envelope that we inherited and working within that; it is an expanded envelope, too.”

“We are clear about what the likely ranges are—”

“Overall, the Secretary of State and the Government will always be held accountable for this. Saying that different tiers of Government or the system are accountable for delivering particular outcomes is not me abdicating responsibility as the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State and the Department of Health and S…”

“Actually, one of the first conversations that Minister Kinnock and I had was about what we can do to move quicker on social care. One of the first questions I asked him when we had a meeting of the new ministerial team was, “What can we do to move faster on this?” I think people do have a sense of urgency. For me, ther…”

“I know my lane, Josh. I am not the Chief Secretary right now, so I am not going to be tempted on that one.”

“Pay across social care is something that is really important for the Government to address, and I think the fair pay agreement has been a critical step forward in that regard.”

“I am not going to get into decisions taken in the past around that. I think where we are now is that there is a strong recognition of the importance of urgency here. As I said, one of the first questions I raised when Minister Kinnock and I were catching up on my first few days in the Department was, “What can we do to…”

“I think we need to recognise the amazing compassion and skill of our care workers. For too long, care workers have not been valued in the way that they should be, given the work that they do and that so many our families rely on, in a way that does not get acknowledged by society more generally. The hard, difficult and…”

“I am sure it will look at the careers of people working in social care, because the workforce is so critical—it would be very hard to consider the future of social care without considering the workforce. I am not being deliberately evasive on this; it is an important principle that if you have got an independent commis…”

“Changing what people get paid is something that will happen through a number of different mechanisms over time. We talked about the fair pay agreement and the extra money going in there. I do not want to make commitments that I could not stand behind in future, but I hope my overall approach to this is clear.”

“The work of the Casey commission is obviously independent. Although Baroness Casey has met me, spoken to me and updated me on what is going on, it is independent. I would not presume to say where they will end up on different recommendations.”

“I think that is the right question to be asking—”

“As I said earlier in my comments, when it comes to obesity, prevention is the part we need to focus on more—”

“In the 10-year health plan, the moonshot is about raising the healthiest generation ever—”

“We are clear that there is no single thing that we can do to reduce obesity—”

“For me, that work with the DWP and with Alan Milburn and the work that he has been doing is absolutely critical, not just for NEETs and making sure we help young people into work, but to help young people with the rise of mental ill health among them at the moment and the broader pressure on mental health services acro…”

“In terms of the specific recommendations, I can write to you with that detail, unless Sam or Jim has it to hand.”